'10 facts you didn't know about bricks' - The Times / Property Section

Property Section of The Times - Jeff Maxted (BLP Director of Technical Consultancy) stated: "The shortage is chronic and it is because factories were left with a stockpile of unsold bricks in 2007-08, when housebuilding collapsed to an extent not seen since the 1920s. There were 1.2 billion unsold bricks - around half a normal year’s demand. Companies responded by closing factories and laying off staff. UK brick production fell from almost three billion per year in the first half of the 2000s to around half that in 2012.”